Lorenzana to support resumption of peace talks if …

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has expressed support on the possible resumption of peace talks with communist rebels amid reports of a likely meeting between President Rodrigo Duterte and leaders of the National Democratic Front (NDF) later this month.

But the defense chief said he will only support the revival of peace negotiations if the communists would be sincere and won’t use it to advance their own interests.

“I am not against peace talks provided the CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-NDF) are sincere in working for peace. Peace that jibes with our definition of peace. But to them peace talks is just one of the activities to advance their armed revolution. If this is the objective of their wanting to talk then I am against it,” he told reporters Tuesday.

The military has previously accused the communist rebels of continued attacks against government forces despite the ongoing peace negotiations.

Last Saturday, Duterte mentioned of a possible meeting with NDFP leaders Fidel Agcaoili and Luis Jalandoni. The President said he will announce his decision if the meeting will push through or not after he attends the regional summit in Singapore this week.

Lorenzana refused to comment on the possible meeting between Mr. Duterte and the communist leaders.

“On the proposed meeting between NDFP officials and the President – we’ll see how this plays out as this is still in the planning stage. As I said previously, we defer to the decision of the President to meet or not to meet Agcaoili and Jalandoni,” he said.

The resumption of peace talks did not materialize earlier this year after the government decided to make more public consultations before returning to the negotiating table. /kga